Thread: tricky baseball question

I have a pitching question for you guys. It may sound kind of confusing but hopefully somebody out there also follows baseball and understands what I'm asking.

For most of my life I have always thought that when a right handed pitcher throws a curveball, it curves down and to the inside
of a right handed hitter. But it breaks away over the plate vs. a left handed hitter, making it easier to hit which is why the righty-lefty matchup works to the advantage of the hitter. Of course
it would be the opposite for a lefty pitcher...his curveball goes down and to the inside of a left handed hitter and breaks to the outside for a righty, making it easier to hit.

But I was reading an article the other day saying it's the exact opposite. So my question is, which side of the plate does the pitcher want his curveball to go, and is it easier or harder for a hitter to get something that breaks inside or away from the plate?

Pretty screwy question I know, but I was curious because I've been watching baseball for a while and it got me confused.

that is confusing. i always thought that the righty's curve goes down and torwards the right handed batter too. maybe whoever wrote the article made a mistake or maybe we r just both wrong, but when u think of how a curve is thrown it should be the way we thought it was.

I have a head ache from trying to process that...

i take back what i said before. the article was right. i asked someone who knows a lot more about baseball than i do. the curve would go away from the batter if both r right-handed.

"rjkvikings" wrote:

i take back what i said before. the article was right. i asked someone who knows a lot more about baseball than i do. the curve would go away from the batter if both r right-handed.

Thanks! I guess that would make more sense since it is harder to hit something to the outside of the plate.

yea the ball breaks away from a right handed batter if a right handed pitcher was throwing it. i watch the braves alot that don sutton knows his stuff

Yeah, a curveball will go away from the hitter if the hitter and the pitcher are the same handedness (ie right handed or left handed). The description you were giving sdvikefan was for a screwball. For a righthanded pitcher pitching to a righthanded batter the ball would curve towards the hitter. The screwball however is a very tough pitch to throw and you don't see it too often!

I also way thought it was harder to hit a ball going to the inside no matter which handed you where or who was pitching, cause it look like it coming across and then slides or curves or screws into you L or R side which ever side you stand on the plate which mean ground ball back to the infield, the out side ones give you more power out home run stuff or fly balls :scratch:

good question

casper: well it's easier to hit a ball that's coming to the inside of the plate than to the outside. THe batter can pull the pitch, which means swing with full power and connect with the ball when his swing is at its strongest point, driving it deep to right field if he's right handed. It's a lot harder to do that with a pitch to the outside...it's harder to time the pitch and the batter has to adjust a little to connect with it, and it's usually not with as much strength. Now if the ball breaks low when it gets pitched, it's hard to hit no matter what side of the plate it's on.

Thanks again guys, and thanks VKG4LIFE I didn't know those reverse curves were screwballs. I've been watching for years too! I guess with baseball you are always learning new stuff.

baseball is the greatest sport on Earth to play, but football is the greatest sport to watch. I coach baseball, but there is nothing like watching football!!